@resonanteye I do plan to save seed from that hardy fella, and will be happy to send you some. No postage necessary. Just PM me your address this fall to remind me and they will be on their way. This melon is too determined to live and reproduce not to spread its seed around.
I am pretty sure the seeds will be true to it since I did not have any other melons blooming at the time the 4 larger melons still on it were pollinated. I will save one of those for seed. I found another couple of small melons on it today.
Sandra
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heck yeah!! I’ll send a reminder to you
I check my messages once a month to remind myself to remind people or send things so I’ll remind you in the fall!
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i grew these and Tigger melons last year and they never tasted right to me. i got tons of them but even full ripe they weren’t great. i didn’t plant any out this year. i look back at my harvest baskets and was getting one or three ever week from late July into late September.
i had a good variety out last year, only one was worth seed saving from, the yellow one i shared with my helper. I’ll be putting them in next year from those saved seed. last year, variety:
the best growers and tasting were collective farm woman, Minnesota midget, and the yellow fleshed watermelon. I’ve got “my muskmelon”, midgets, and blacktail mountain out there this year. no watering, no weeding, just starts i grew from seed put out to struggle. if any make good fruit those I’ll save seed from
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First time with success growing melons. Sugar Baby and Sugar Cube. No guessing at all with the Sugar Cube because they fall right off the vine when ripe. The plants seem to be loving the summer weather this year.
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That sugar baby is beautiful!!
I might go back to only Charentais and watermelons next year. Charentais is so delicious and prolific. Yet, with all my issues this year, two vines have half the amount of melons from one last year. The honeydew ones I’m growing now have horrible powdery mildew and other diseases (one with a complicated name I don’t remember, the rich sweetness and boule d’or). The vines are so sick. Only the store-saved Galia is relatively healthy, but it aborted all but two fruit. I hope to find restraint next winter/spring…
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This is my favorite watermelon Orange Glo !
Every year I grow it. It is the best watermelon I’ve ever tasted.
I took two pics of same melon showing the yellow bottom.
It was very heavy and I was at risk of dropping it!
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These are Crenshaw melons. Very tasty.
These don’t turn yellow completely when ripe.
I tried to wait for the color change but when they were mostly orange they had gotten overripe.
It is very important to place some shade cloth over the Crenshaw melons as they grow to prevent sunburn.
If they get burned the skin will turn dark and mold will start invading the flesh.
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they look like big rough version of the collective farm woman melon. i wonder if they are related.
how is the flavor?
@resonanteye
When they are perfectly ripe I give them 5 out of 5 stars.
I don’t remember where I got the seeds…
I will have to read about collective farm woman.
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The Orange Glo cut open
it is a 5 out of 5 stars !
I call the spaces around the seeds sugar caverns.
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im growing these as well. i have 2 vines with 5 melons growing right now. i got 1 basket ball melon off 1 vine last year and it was very good. looking forward to more. lots of heat coming in the 7 day. time to water and fertilize them again.
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Desert king. Looks ripe (I think, it’s my first time growing it). Is not very sweet. I did pick it in the hot late afternoon. Last watering was on Saturday. I think it’s a little over ripe (look at bottom of picture). Had ribs, skin scratched was like scratching a winter squash (hard underneath), tendril dead. Ground spot was white but I don’t think ground spot works here.
This is why I like cantaloupes. They let you know when they are ripe.
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Kazakh honeydew. Seeds from Sandhill preserve. Not full crispy but not as soft as a cantaloupe. Doesn’t surpass my cantaloupe in flavor but still very good, definitely better than grocery store melons. Melons are small, but turn yellow when ripe. Yay for obvious ripeness indicators.
Had some splits.
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Branco melon. Gotten from Sandhill Preserve. I can’t figure out when they are ripe. They are probably supposed to be whiter, but I tried a whiter one (not pictured) and flavor was still meh. This one was underipe I suspect. Tasted meh, rather have a split cantaloupe.
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Stuz supreme. Sandhill Preservation. Bearer of disease. I’ve never had a problem with alternaria before or whatever that leaf spot is, but low and behold it showed up on this plant. Produced three large melons that sunburned. Taste like a cantaloupe but not as good. Honestly just grow a cantaloupe instead of this. At least it’s easier to tell when it’s ripe.
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@tonyOmahaz5
I ordered Jubilee seeds for next year after I read such wonderful reviews.
I haven’t been able to get past Orange Glo being my favorite for years.
Have you been able to taste both and compare yet ?
You’re growing the two I am hoping for next year!
Someone wrote to wait 7 to 10 days after the tendril turns brown and stop watering, then pick the melon.
I waited but couldn’t stop the rain (haha ).
The bottom of the Orange Glo melon was as you see in my photo.
So that guide line helped me.
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They are both excellent. I got about 80 melons last year between the two varieties. I look under the belly of the watermelon for that nice yellow spot and the tendrils dried up and hold the watering . Orange glo weight around 30 pounds and Jubilee weight around 35 to 40 pounds. I also fertilized them until the melons get to the size of my fist then just grass clippings to cover the base of the plant to conserve water evaporation.
Tony
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Could you post a pic of one cut open? I’m growing them for the first time and curious on flesh color. Some videos I’ve seen show a very pale color and southern exposure seed shows orange. They were the last variety to set fruit for me so they are pretty small yet. Odell’s White is my other new variety for this year and I have a few of those getting Big.
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You need to becareful when saving seed from a melon when you plant 2 different varities. Seeds that are cross pollination will give you a different type of melon.
I found out the hard way. Saved the seeds and ended up with yellow melon flesh that tasted horrible. Needless to say it was to late in the season when I realized what happened.
I only plant one type of WM, canteloupe and honeydew. I only save seeds from the WM. Since the other 2 are hybrids.
I plan to harvest a few WMs tomorrow. I watered them yesterday so I am waiting to harvest right before I water again tomorrow. They supposely taste sweeter when not watered for a few days. Not sure how true but it doesnt hurt. Just dont let it dry out to the pount where the leaves start to wilt.
Welcome to the forum.
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